The present invention relates to high performance racing vehicles. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus and method for modeling forces on the tires of a racing vehicle at various combinations of horizontal and vertical g-forces that can be expected on any given racetrack.
The adjustment of racing vehicle suspension components (collectively known as the “setup”) is critical to optimize cornering performance of the racing vehicle. Essentially, the set up of the vehicle is designed to achieve optimal weight balance between the individual tires to maximize performance of the car based upon differing track types or conditions. For example, the car setup may vary from track to track without making major changes to the car itself. Such changes are necessary to compensate for track pitch, turn radius, friction characteristics of the racing surface, as well as other conditions. Each track yields different g-forces for a given type of race car. Considerations that are taken into account when setting up a race car include, but are not limited to, individual wheel spring rates, sway bar rate, track bar or panhard bar location, upper and lower control arm locations and angles, trailing arm locations and angles, third link locations and angles, front and rear roll centers of the vehicle, weight and weight balance of the vehicle, suspension motion ratios, chassis stiffness, gas loaded shock absorber forces, bump stops or coil binds and aerodynamic characteristics of the car. Variations and changes of each of the aforementioned may have an affect on how the car handles during operation.
Typically, changes made in setup have to be tested on the specific track to determine the results and affects of the change. This can be quite time consuming and costly. There is further room for error on such type of testing as the driver may not follow the exact same path along the track and through the corners after each modification has been made. Also, the tire and track friction characteristics are constantly changing and the driver inputs to the vehicle vary from lap to lap. There therefore exists a need for a method and apparatus to quickly test, under controlled conditions, various setup combinations. There also exists a need for a method and apparatus to quantify the change in tire forces resulting from changing single or multiple setup parameters without having to run the racing vehicle on the track after each change.